Relishing the Muse

If you're creative, you know the feeling. Inspiration hits you at some odd hour or place, right in the middle of a ton of other things that need doing. It takes some practice to "go with the flow", and it's impromptu arrival is often not pretty. I was about to attend to my working environment - already rather disorganized - when the muse called me in a new direction.

Here's something I literally tripped over in my yard. A burl, or knot, or chunk of root, I can't say. But the grain and twists are so lovely. After a brief soak in bleach to brighten the wood, it has dried nicely and all bits of crumbling and debris have been removed with picks and an exacto knife. This object would fit in your hand; its about the size of a piece of fruit.

I envision a thin coat of gel medium or poly to protect the wood. I don't want this to interfere with the fine lines and striations, so I will be careful to avoid puddling the finish. This find has plenty of potential and I want to display it in some "artsy" way, either in a shadow box arrangement or perhaps as a piece of jewelry. Where will my feelings about it lead me? Ideas can be so exciting! I'll keep you posted.

Sneaking A Peak

This is not the "official", well lighted image that I need to do - eventually - but it gives you a glimpse of the outcome I achieved.

Two years ago I took these photos of Siberian iris, violets and clematis vines in my garden.  I was so taken with them, that I chose the iris for my google icon.  When my ARTAA group decided to do a project in "blue" this spring, my iris came to mind.

But we had planned to take a bit of time away from the snow, so I packed up the completed quilt top to work on while away. I was well organized for the quilting aspect, but ill-prepared for the complications of sewing outside of my studio.  Part of my satisfaction with this piece is the way it turned out in spite of some improvisions, like working from this sofa table!

This is my favorite style of art quilting.  Not only do I get to revisit the photography session that drew my attention in the first place, I get to fondle the art shapes with the needle of my machine, coloring each edge and enhancing the image with highlights I control.  Threads make the photo come alive, as you can see in the views below.

Inventive Minds Prevail, regardless...

Recent work,  done from an unfamiliar location, has proved challenging.  While I thought I'd packed all the supplies I needed, I quickly noticed that I needed a "favorite" pick I use for pulling errant threads.
It's a skewer-type, wooden stick, smooth, non-cutting, and ever so efficient!

So, at dinner one night, I ordered a dish that came with chop sticks.  Whollah!!  An idea.
With a little shaving and filing, I made myself a similar device.  I'm a happy camper now, and thread pulling can continue......

I'm working on an image piece, full of blues, and quite happy with the outcome so far.  The rhythm of the stitches is important to the overall design.  Hence, "unsewing" is part of my process for a pleasing result.  Now I have a wooden pick.  YAY!!

"These are a few of my favorite things".....

I'm still singing Christmas music, and here's a little something I absolutely love doing. Playing!!!!
Santa brought me some fabric swatches for Christmas. (Thank you sweetie!)
I washed them yesterday - 22 in all - and now I'm organizing them.  (WHOO - HOO!)

First, the lavendar group:  This is a classic little girl medley. Gonna' be FUN.

And probably the most imaginative selection.  Starting with a hand dyed piece on the bottom, I envision some shades to pick up the spectacular softness of this print.  I have to choose the right application for this group.  Yummy.

What on earth will happen with this group?  How bright!

Finally, this package has some options - and the two don't go together (in my world).  There is the soft, shades of a tropical nature - or using some of the same pieces, the familiar Howard Johnson's color scheme.  (I know - I date myself!)

So - which are your "favorite things?"

In Santa Claus lane....

......the elves have been busy once again, dreaming up unique family gifts.

For a little munchkin in our family - the last of the little girls - a baby doll quilt and pillow.

I can just picture this little pip, making her baby comfortable with these.  A little more hand stitching, and it's off to Santa's sleigh......

I had originally gathered the remnants of my earliest quilt attempts from years ago, a series of 9 patches in really wonky condition. Placed in certain ways, they came together in a sweet doll quilt shape that was to be my gift. But then, a friend cautioned that I might want to "save" my original work for myself. She was right; I am a nostalgia nut and I have the perfect application for using it.  Just need to find a baby doll or teddy to dress it up.

The quilt.............
16" x 21"


















                                                                                  ..... and the cradle.


(I did this in decoupage' a few months ago.)
It looks like I need a puffy mattress and pillow, too.
More fun!!!

A little "brightness" story

I am so excited about my new ceiling lights.  It took my guy much longer than he expected, and of course, there were so many snags along the way.  But just look at the great results. With all this candle power, I can now remove space consuming "table lamps" and generate even more space in my studio.  This feels so professional now.

My give-away Christmas quilt is finished.  Because I used so many assorted scraps of reds and greens, much of it unwashed, I was breathless while I threw it into the washing machine for it's first experience.  I used Synthrapol and two color catchers to insure a good outcome, and then crossed my fingers.  Countdown:  30, 29, 28, 27............

It turned out GREAT.  Bright, soft and quilted so nicely.  The new owner is going to enjoy this and I'm satisfied that the colors won't run.

Here's a close-up of the crazy log cabin design...

and the random, leaves and vines quilting that I used throughout......

It's always fun to do a community endeavor.  Go brighten someone's day, little quilt.

Merry Christmas!!

A Mission of Love

For the last week, I have been deep cleaning my studio.  I can't say I thought of it first - I'm a 'copy cat'.  My inspiration came from Melanie Testa, who, following the loss of her long-time feline companion "Arrow", decided to dig in (or out) for therapy.  Boy, all I can say is--- the results of this gig are just wonderful.

I went through everything, even to the point of sorting beads (yuck) and digging through a pile of dusty what-nots that somehow landed in my way.  I discarded my college textbooks (the library probably hasn't seen those editions in years) and made up boxes of goodies that others might use.  Most of all, I threw out about 6 grocery bags filled with junk and tiny pieces of those things I might do someday.  NOT.

Here are a few pictures of the ugly process:

I began to label early on.  I used a big font and wide packing tape to put a label on all my plastic containers.  With all those silly drawers, I could now tell which end was up with signs in front of me.

I basically divided my room into three sections:

1) fabric stash and fabric related containers for strips, cuts, and scraps.  Ribbons and patterns wound up here, too.  That took up one large shelf unit.  And it's all VISIBLE.

2) small space items related to fabric, such as threads, needles, and sewing machine supplies; my entire stamping and beading collection; and a small space requirement for card making and all the paper and sleeve do-hickeys for that.  Large shelf unit #2, filled and appropriately labeled.

3) the third area I called CHEMICALS.  Everything in a jar wound up on my small shelf unit - from paint, dye, inks and a bottom shelf of buckets, gloves, etc.  I also needed a lamp and a radio/CD space there (gotta' have some music!) -- so it took a long time getting this to work.

I started to see progress.  I found that certain containers could stack and made sense if I just changed-out their contents.  Suddenly, I gained space and developed an eye for a color scheme for the containers. Did I mention I am somewhat compulsive?















Some creature comforts needed to stay in place, i.e., the TV takes up room.

It was amazing the things I had been keeping, but I stuck to my rules.   If it couldn't be labeled and put in my categories, it probably didn't belong in the studio.  I was getting tough now!!  Pitch it.

Soon, I could start to see the floor.

So, basically I have developed three areas from which I can work: a) Sewing, quilting, fabrics, needlework and textiles; b) drawing, painting, sketching; c) and table top crafting with cards, beads, thickened dyes or inks.  I'm a happy camper now with lots of space and new ceiling track lighting coming next week.  Oh, and did you notice that in the end, I even rearranged some of my favorite art to spruce up the walls.

My art supplies and magazines
watercolor art by:  ME/of my kids

Small items, TV, and ironing surface
art by:  Joanna Monroe

The lap quilt on the design wall is completely made from scraps, my favorite kind of piecing.  It will go to a Woodlawn nursing home resident where our ARTAA group meets every two weeks.  FUN!!!

Hope your own archeology digs are as successful!!!!  Good luck.

  

Design wall and closet of reference books;

CHEMICALS on R shelf; dog's bed in place

on the floor